At three o'clock in the ninth day of the lunar month, Zeng Yu took the mount black bean, and went out of the east gate of Anren County with Jian Zhen, the wilderness of Pingchou, snow-capped, the two said goodbye in the cold wind outside the east gate, Jian Zhen told Zeng Yu that if he went to Fenyi again in the spring next year, he must come to Anren to visit him first, and he would go to Huwan to buy books on the same road——

Farewell to Jian Zhen, Zeng Yu rode on the road, leaving a trace of hooves on the snow, and the hoof marks were pulled farther and farther, until he couldn't see Jian Sixuan at the other end, Zeng Yu hit the horse and walked quickly.

Anren county is more than 70 miles away from Yingtanfang, the road is covered with snow, muddy and difficult to walk, and happy all the way is safe and sound, at the beginning of the unitary time, half a round of cold moon rises in the sky, Zeng Yu crossed the Xinjiang River in the clear light and snow, went ashore at the Longtou Mountain Wharf in Yingtanfang, went to the cross street, came to Zheng Shi's house, only to see the door closed, there are lights out, knock on the door for a moment, the old servant of the Zheng family Fugui came to open the door, rubbed the faint old eyes and looked at it, and said with great joy: "It's Young Master Zeng, my eldest young master has been looking forward to it for many days, please come in, please come in." He turned his head and called his son loudly: "Come to Fu, come to Fu, lead the horse to the backyard for Zeng Gongzi." ”

The stout and honest Laifu ran out, Zheng Shi then strode out, and said with a smile: "Jiu Li, I have been waiting for you for many days, if you don't come again, I won't wait for you, I originally planned to leave for Shangrao tomorrow, and the scientific examination is on the 16th." ”

Zeng Yu went to the kitchen to wash his face with hot water, and then followed Zheng Shi to the inner courtyard to kowtow to Zheng Shi's mother Lu Shi, and before he entered the inner courtyard door, he saw a red figure running under the dim light, and his voice was as crisp as ice and snow: "Uncle Jiu Li, Uncle Jiu Li, is Sister Niu Niu here?" ”

Zeng Yu leaned over and picked up the little girl in red, and said with a smile: "Tomorrow, Qianqian will go to Shangrao with Uncle Jiuli to play with Niuniu." ”

Qianqian, who was wearing a tiger head velvet hat, opened his dark eyes and said, "But Daddy won't take me there." As she spoke, she looked at her father Zheng Shi with dark eyes.

Zeng Yu said to Zheng Shi: "Three idiot brothers, let Qianqian go with us, anyway, we are taking a boat, and we are not afraid of difficult snowy roads." ”

Zheng Shi shook his head and said: "I can't sit on a boat, the thieves are looting in the area of Yiyang and Lead Mountain, and it is very dangerous to take the waterway, and we have to take the land route from the north bank of the Xinjiang River." ”

Qianqian's little mouth suddenly pursed, tears flashed in his eyes, and he looked at Zeng Yu pitifully-

The road was not smooth, Zeng Yu was helpless, and comforted the little girl: "I'll bring Niuniu over to play with you next month, and then pick you up to Shangrao to play, okay?" ”

Qianqian's eyes were filled with tears, and after a while, he nodded.

Zeng Yu sent a piece of green gold satin to Zheng Shi's mother Lu, this kind of green gold satin is extremely luxurious, a horse is worth three taels of silver, Lu felt that the gift was too valuable, and repeatedly excused himself, and asked Zeng Yu to take it back to his mother Zhou, Zeng Yu said: "There are two pieces of this kind of satin, which are given to the younger generations by the Yan family, and Aunt Lu and my mother are exactly one horse per person." ”

Zheng Shi and his wife, Qianqian, and even Fugui and Laifu father and son all had a gift, which was purchased by Zeng Yu in Linchuan, and the New Year was approaching, and they were all happy.

Zheng Shi's family has had dinner, because Zeng Yu arrived, the kitchen prepared wine and dishes, cooked a tail of fish, a plate of winter bamboo shoots and mutton, Zheng Shi accompanied the drink, talking about the Fujian thief Wu Ping harassing Guixi, Zheng Shi said: "Governor Hu ordered the general soldier Qi Jiguang to lead the troops to suppress the thief, yesterday the county got the news, Qi general soldier has arrived in Changshan County, Quzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang, will enter the Jiangxi border in the near future, the day of the defeat of the Wu thief is not far away. ”

Zeng Yu said: "General Qi should have arrived at Yushan now, I don't know if the mouth of the lead mountain was looted by thieves?"

Zheng Shi said: "The news has not yet been sent back, the sky is snowing heavily, the thieves come from the south, they will be blocked by the ice and snow, and the lead mountain has a thousand households, the thieves want to rob the estuary is not easy, the fear is that the thieves are blocked in the lead mountain, and afraid of the general army of Qi, so they turned around and went south, these thieves ran to grab where they went, Guixi is only afraid of being robbed, I really can't rest assured." ”

Zeng Yu said: "It's better for the whole family of the three idiot brothers to go to Shangrao for the New Year, my mother misses Aunt Lu very much, and Niuniu is looking forward to going humble." ”

Zheng Shi said: "Drag the family with the mouth of the inconvenient movement, and this to Shangrao to take a detour by land, then there are three hundred miles away, we will leave tomorrow, the fifteenth must rush to Shangrao, before and after only six days, you and I are young and strong, my mother is only afraid that they will not be able to catch up with this urgent road, and in case they encounter thieves along the way, then regret it——"

As soon as the conversation changed, Zheng Shi asked Zeng Yu: "Does the virtuous brother know what slogans the thief Wu Ping preached?" ”

The earliest version of "Water Margin" "The Biography of Jingben Zhongyi" has been published and popular, Zeng Yu saw this version in Huwan, and replied: "Isn't it robbing the rich and helping the poor, and doing the right thing for heaven?" ”

Zheng Shi said with a smile: "Where do those bandits and bandits want to get such a good sentence, but their slogan is also direct and powerful, called 'The rich are swept away, the rich don't panic, the poor come to help, and they can be inciting. ”

This slogan is really familiar, Zeng Yu shook his head with a wry smile, and asked: "Are the three idiot brothers rich or not?" ”

Zheng Shi said: "As long as there is a little property is considered a rich person, these thieves will rob, the slightest disobedience will kill people and set fire, this is called a sweep away, the reason why I am worried that the thieves will kill back to Guixi Yingtan is because of the two missing Gui family singles, one of the singles was scolded by me for bullying and kindness, and I have a grudge against me, if these two really voted for thieves, it is very likely that they will lead the thieves to loot Yingtan Fang, and they will commit murder in their hometowns, so they have to be prevented, tomorrow morning the Yuxuandao brothers will come here, and I will let the family go to Shangqing Town to take refuge temporarily, The road in Longhu Mountain is steep, and there are hundreds of guards from the Inspection Division, and the thief Zhang Lian, who calls himself the Flying Dragon King of the Han Dynasty, also has some relationship with Taoism, and should not go to rob Shangqing. ”

Zeng Yu nodded and said, "This is the safest." ”

Early the next morning, Zheng Mansion was busy, the master and the servants were packing up, at the end of the hour, Yu Xuandao arrived, and brought two ox carts and eight porters, to see Zeng Yu, Yu Xuandao people were very happy, and apologized for not being able to see Zeng Yu because of something in Shangqing last time, and invited Zeng Yu to go to Shangqing-

Zheng Shi slapped his forehead and said: "I almost forgot, Brother Yuxuan Dao told me last month that if Brother Jiuli returns to his hometown and passes by Yingtan, he must go to the Da Zhenren Mansion in Longhu Mountain, this is Zhang Dazhenren's life, right?" ”

Yu Xuan Daoren nodded and said, "The heir sect has repeatedly told the real person to invite Zeng Gongzi to the Great True Mansion. ”

Zeng Yu said: "The sixteenth is the scientific examination, why don't you have time to go, I don't know what Zhang Dazhen told Xiaosheng?" ”

Yu Xuandao hesitated for a moment and said, "Poor Dao also doesn't know. ”

Zeng Yu said: "I'll write a letter and let Brother Dao forward it to Zhang Zhenren." I went to Zheng Shi's study and hurriedly wrote a letter and handed it to Yu Xuandao.

At the same time, Yu Xuandao escorted Zheng Shi's family to leave Yingtanfang to go to Shangqing Town, Zheng Shi took the healthy servants Laifu and Zeng Yu also on the road, Zheng Shi rode a donkey, Laifu walked, Laifu wore felt boots, Fugui taught Laifu to cut two large bamboo tubes, and then close them on the left and right calves, and then tie them with ropes, so that the snow is not afraid of snow soaking trouser legs-

Zheng Shi and Zeng Yu waited for Yuxuan to cross the river and go on the road when they were far away, and there were thieves on Xinjiang South Road, so they had to go from the north bank, Zheng Shi said to Zeng Yu: "A few days ago, I told my mother that I would not go to this record exam, and I would accompany the old and young in the family, and my mother must let me go. ”

Zeng Yu said: "It is said that the thieves robbed several counties of Jianchang Prefecture, and the southern city of the Yiwang Domain was almost captured. ”

Zheng Shi said: "Yes, the students of our Guangxin Mansion are just that, but the Guangchang at the southern end of Jianchang Mansion and the floating beam at the north end of Raozhou Mansion, the students there will be hard to come to Shangrao to catch the exam, and the farthest will travel nearly a thousand miles

Zeng Yu said with a smile: "We are new students, how can we try our luck to test a few subjects, I will try my best to participate in the township examination three times, if I can't win, I will no longer go to participate in the township examination that is hard to lose money, and make a good living, support the old mother, live the life you want to live, life is expensive, the autumn wind rises, thinking about sea bass and lettuce, you can't spend your whole life on seeking fame, otherwise it is very likely that your fame will fail, and wealth is like a dream." "Because I told Zheng Shi about the simplicity of Anren County-

Zheng Shi praised: "Jian Sheng can be described as an expert, and I will visit him with you next time." And said: "Then I will also work hard with my virtuous brother for ten years, if I can't get three subjects in ten years, then I will seek comfort and live a leisurely life." ”

The two talked for a long time while walking, but they were not lonely, Laifu just walked with his head bored while carrying the burden, and sometimes when he heard Zheng Shi and Zeng Yu talk about jokes, he raised his head and grinned.

Although the snow road is difficult to travel, but in order to arrive at Shangrao as soon as possible, Zeng Yu three people get up early and stay at night, walk more than 60 miles a day, two days later, that is, the twelfth noon of the lunar month, the three of them passed Yiyang safely, to the boundary of Hengfeng, Hengfeng and Lead Mountain one in the north of the Xinjiang River, one in the south of the Xinjiang River, this place is about one hundred and fifty miles away from Shangrao County, more than half of the journey, it is expected to be able to reach Shangrao on the morning of the 15th, and it will be possible to arrive before the night of the 14th.

There were few pedestrians along the way, and I didn't hear of thieves attacking him, Zeng Yu rode on horseback and looked at the direction of the lead mountain on the right and said: "I don't know if the estuary has suffered, if it is looted, it will not be able to recover in three or five years."

Zheng Shi was more familiar with this road, and said: "This is only more than ten miles away from the Xinjiang River, should we go to the river to find out the news?" ”

Zeng Yu shook his head and said: "Mingzhe protects himself, even if we know that the mouth of the Ludao River has been robbed, we can't help anything, we still have to wait for Qi Jiguang to exterminate it, we have to hurry." ”

Zheng Shi nodded yes, the three of them went east, there was an abrupt mountain peak in front of them, sharp as sharp, the peak was covered with snow, the three of them were about to go around the mountain, and suddenly heard the sound of footsteps running on the other side of the mountain, as well as the sound of horses' hooves, Zeng Yu exclaimed: "The situation is not good, quickly find a place to hide." ”